Blog Archives

I’ll be honest, I don’t watch a lot of TV. It’s very rare for me to be enthralled by television. I hardly ever feel the need to rush home and catch my favourite TV programme. I catch shows here and there when I occasionally watch television, but it very rarely goes beyond that. People often ask what do I do if I don’t watch TV? Well, I read, play video games, listen to music, play guitar, cook, workout, watch films, go out, write, etc… So I’m not exactly at a loss for things to do, and in all honesty the only thing I watch with any regularity is wrestling (yes I watch wrestling).

Yet sometimes, a show will have me completely hooked. The last time it happened was with True Blood, however after season two the quality dramatically dropped and I haven’t bothered to watch anything after season three, nor have I bothered to finish watching season three. But I have found a new show worthy of my attention, Game of Thrones.

I initially saw the advertisement for Game of Thrones and my first thought was, ‘looks interesting’. Unfortunately I did not have access to the cable station it was being broadcasted on to watch the show, but having seen many advertisements for it and hearing lots of good things about it my curiosity grew. So in the New Year I went on an internet shopping spree and bought myself the dvd boxset of season one, and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Right from the beginning I was hooked. I don’t even think my last love affair with a TV show – True Blood – did that to me, it took a few episodes before I was truly drawn in last time I regularly watched a television show.

Game of Thrones is set in a fantasy world were the houses of the seven kingdoms are all plotting for the Iron Throne which rules over all of them. The political backstabbing and games is mixed with a healthy dose of action and fantasy adventure.

Right from the first episode I needed to know what happened next, and that doesn’t normally happen with me. Normally it takes a few episodes for me to build any affinity with the characters for me to start caring about them, and to become engaged with the story line and plots. Yet Game of Thrones has story telling down to a fine art; every single scene was interesting, and I felt none of it was wasted on filler.

I also found the characters very well structured. Each character was an individual in their own right, and thankfully didn’t rely on some generic formula in a half arsed attempt to inject some personality into them. Character development was spot on too, it felt very natural as well. One thing was for sure, whether I liked or loathed a character, I always wanted to know about them or know what they did next, and such a feat isn’t easy. Normally I find there are a few characters who I really dislike, or couldn’t care about, but this wasn’t the case. Even with characters I disliked, it wasn’t because I couldn’t stand the character, but more because they were a baddie and I wanted to see the good guys win.

The plot also moved at a very good pace too. With the series only being 10 episodes long, they managed to move the storyline along without rushing it or dragging parts out. I was hooked by the intrigue of what was happening too and around the characters. My only complaint, and it really is nothing more than a niggle really, is that sometimes it would jump from one scene to the next rather quickly. For example: you would watch a scene where someone was explaining something, then the next scene would be the conclusion of the previous scene right afterwards, which seemed a bit jarring as normally you would cut to a completely different scene first before coming to the concluding scene later. Yet this really didn’t detract too much from the overall show, it rarely happened, and it is really more of a personal preference than a major fault with the show.

I must warn you though, this show doesn’t hold back on the violence, language, or sex. Now, it’s not like the show is littered with gratuitous scenes, but when there is one it is pretty hard hitting (more so the violence than anything else). I have to admit, there were times when I winced at what I witnessed on screen. I’m not a prude, I have no problem with violence, coarse language, controversy, or sex being depicted, provided it’s not being used as a cheap tactic to get people talking about and/or watching your film/TV show. With Game or Thrones, the so called controversial scenes felt natural in their placement and helped to portray the story they were trying to tell, so I had no problem with them, even if I did wince at times.

Overall, I thought Game of Thrones was excellent! I really can find little fault with the program, and would gladly recommend it to anyone.

Good Points:

Great acting

Good pacing

Interesting story

Great character development

Well acted

Bad Points:

Sometimes it can jump from one scene to the next

Some people may find the violence/sex scenes a bit strong.

~ Roux Roux ~

P.S.

Two of my Fanfic stories – Not From Here & Drawn to You – have been put up for nomination in this year’s Fangies. If you have a chance, please check out the voting, and vote for your favourite fics. Vote Here.